Page 54 of Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice

“Yeah, but I also told you I’m putting a pause on it. I’m not setting up coffee or dinner dates with her, am I?”

The thrill disappeared, and my heart dropped at his answer. Because it confirmed that Kim and Jenna were wrong, and that he reallydidhave someone he was interested in.

Someone who wasn’t me.

“This could potentially jeopardize my deal with Jacqui. If anyone sees you with him and Jacqui hears about it, she might get suspicious and call off the acquisition.”

And that was my reminder that he couldn’t possibly be jealous, because this entire thing was nothing more than a business transaction to him.

“You’re being a bit reckless, and I don’t think you’ve thought this through.”

“It’s just coffee, Alec,” I repeated, suddenly feeling exhausted. “I’ll be super careful. I promise I won’t do anything to risk your deal with Jacqui.”

Without saying another word, I grabbed my bag and keys, then walked out the door.

Mike was already at the café, waving from a table at the back when I arrived. Casting furtive glances around, I made my way to him. Alec did raise a valid point, so I was just making sure that Jacqui, Phil, or anyone else from Jacqui’s party wasn’t anywhere nearby.

We ordered drinks and started chatting, and after a few minutes I relaxed, glad I’d said yes to this non-date. Mike was flirty and funny, listening to my every word and chuckling at all my terrible jokes. The complete, total opposite of Alec. Maybe once the fake dating arrangement with Alec was over, I should consider an actual date with Mike. He seemed to be kind, hardworking, and honest. Plus, he genuinely wanted to get to know me because of who I was, not because of who my brother was. And more importantly, he was someone who had never hurt me in the past.

In short, someone who wasnotAlec Mackenzie.

Stop thinking about him.

“How long have you been working as a mechanic?”

“Since I was sixteen. Never liked school. Decided early on that I wanted to do something with my hands. I started working at my uncle’s garage, then saved enough money to start my own business two years ago.”

“So it’s your own garage.” I was impressed. “How’s it going so far?”

“Been quiet since the end of the year. But things are picking up now.”

“I feel like I should apologize. My car repair fees probably didn’t help much with your cash flow.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mike waved a dismissive hand. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s ahugedeal. Thanks for not charging me an arm and a leg. A lot of other people would probably have taken advantage of it and invoiced me for the full quote. You’re honest, and I appreciate that.”

Discomfort flickered over his face. “Yeah, but seriously, you don’t have to thank me.”

“Of course I do.”

“Really, you don’t.” He gave me an awkward grin. “You’re right, I would have charged you the full quote if it weren’t…” He trailed off, as if realizing that he’d said something he shouldn’t have.

I raised my eyebrows. “If it weren’t…?”

He was shaking his head, seemingly regretting having said anything in the first place. “Never mind. You sure you don’t want to try their red velvet muffins? It’s del—”

“Mike.” Something fishy was going on. “You need to finish what you were talking about. Or I might be inclined to do something to embarrass you in public, and it’ll besohumiliating, you’ll be the talk of Port Benedict for the next ten years. Trust me, you don’t want that.”

I was bluffing, but my tone and the steely glint in my eyes must have tricked him into believing me, because his eyes widened in fear.

“Fine. Alec subsidized your repair fees,” he blurted out.

I frowned. “Subsidized?” My brain was slow to register his words. “What do you mean?”

He looked at me like I’d just spoken in tongues. “You know, when someone else pa—”

“I know what the word meant.” I was getting impatient. “Are you telling me hepaida portion of the repairs? For my car?”

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